Seeing Souta clench his fist, both Ayase and Tsugumi instantly got what it meant.
Their expressions were a bit awkward, but they didn't say anything more.
Ayase turned to Inori.
"Inori, can you help me draw out my Void?"
Inori glanced at her, confused. "Ayase… What do you need your Void for?"
"We'll be fighting the Antibodies stationed in Roppongi soon. Having our Voids will give a big boost in combat power."
Ayase explained:
"I want to get a feel for how to use it smoothly. At least get used to it before a real fight."
"…Alright." Inori nodded and raised her right hand.
Ever since Souta fused the Void ability with her, she hadn't used it yet.
Just then, Souta suddenly spoke:
"I wouldn't recommend using Voids in battle, Shinomiya-san."
"You can just call me by my name," Ayase reminded gently. "But why not use the Void?"
"Voids are fragile. Even a single bullet could shatter them and if a Void is destroyed, its user instantly crystallizes and dies. This kind of crystallization has nothing to do with the virus, so the vaccine won't help."
Souta's tone was dead serious.
He wasn't even sure if all Voids had the same durability.
Inori's sword seemed sturdy, it had lasted from the beginning of the anime to the end without breaking.
But the rest? Paper-thin.
Souta remembered clearly: when Shu broke his arm in the anime, a furious girl charged Gai, got her Void shot by a cannon blast, and died a very unceremonious death.
Another example: Yahiro's younger brother, his Void got shot and snapped in half, leading to instant crystallization.
Too fragile!
Not worth the risk.
"If the Void breaks… we die?" Ayase's face went pale.
Tsugumi looked nervous too. "Then what do we fight with?"
"I told you, I'll provide help."
Souta smiled mysteriously:
"You'll see. Just wait a few days and stay put."
Now that he'd fully unlocked his Divine Authority, it was time to strike while the iron was hot and develop some divine rituals to grant his believers, make himself truly a God.
And no, this wasn't just to help Funeral Parlor fight the Antibodies.
Pfft, Antibodies?
He could go single-player fruit ninja mode and slice through Roppongi to Tokyo Bay, mowing down everything in sight without breaking a sweat.
No, the real goal was to spread divine miracles.
Once his followers started using god-powered rituals, he'd start passively gaining Source Power.
"Alright, you two should leave. I've got some research to do."
Souta waved them off.
"No way! I'm staying. I need to protect Inori, what if you try something pervy?!"
Tsugumi argued fiercely.
Of course, that wasn't her real reason. She was just curious about how Souta was planning to make the vaccine.
"Come on, Tsugumi. Don't be childish."
Ayase played the big sister card and dragged her away.
"What a kid," Souta muttered as he watched her go.
"Inori."
Suddenly, she walked up and blocked his line of sight.
"If I give you my blood, sing me a song in return."
"Huh? What for?" Souta asked.
"In exchange." Inori said calmly. "I'm hungry. I want to eat the food you conjured underwater last time."
"If you can name them all," Souta said, squinting at her, "I'll make a deal."
Inori paused, thinking hard. Then:
"Fried Chicken with Watermelon Salad, Smothered Chicken with Watermelon Pickles, Chicken and Waffle Sliders with Watermelon Salsa, BBQ Chicken with Watermelon BBQ Sauce, Jerk Chicken with Watermelon Chutney, Chicken Gumbo with Watermelon Cornbread…"
She rattled off ten dish names with perfect recall.
"…Fine. You win," Souta sighed.
He would never understand foodies.
…
The next day, Souta created the new vaccine.
It wasn't a magical substance. It was a regular material, one that could be reproduced in a lab.
Thanks to his "Matter" divine authority, duplicating it used very little divine power.
One unit of divine power could produce thousands of doses.
But creating the original prototype? That cost a lot of power.
Souta handed the vaccine to Gai for testing.
"I feel… normal. The dull pain from cellular crystallization is gone. My cells must've reverted to normal."
After using it, Gai gave a firm nod.
"It works."
"I disagree."
Souta shook his head.
"Your infection wasn't deep. This isn't a good enough test. Let's do this, instead of a half‑assed test, have Inori sing Euterpe, the one Mana used. Let the virus resonate with your genes for a few hours. Then we'll see if you survive."
"…"
Gai stared at Souta, deadpan.
"What if I die?"
"Then the vaccine failed. I'll use more divine power and make a better one."
Souta answered casually.
Gai: "???"
"Ahem," he cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. "Isn't that a bit much?"
Souta thought for a moment and nodded.
"You're right. Inori would get exhausted after singing for hours. Let's make it ten minutes instead."
He turned to Gai:
"Ten minutes should be enough. Don't let me down, alright? I really don't want to make this thing again. Such a pain."
Gai: "???"
…
In the end, the vaccine proved solid.
Once injected, it rewrote the user's genes, creating a protective mechanism against the Apocalypse Virus.
Even with Inori singing the Euterpe beside him, Gai remained perfectly fine.
The medicine worked.
Creating it cost a fortune in divine power, but it was worth it.
Genetic manipulation on that level shouldn't be cheap.
If it had been too easy, he would've doubted its effectiveness.
"…I finally understand the coldness of gods," Gai muttered with lingering dread.
Souta had used him, a supposed partner, as a guinea pig without hesitation. It was borderline sociopathic!
Souta tapped his head.
"Think. What did I promise when we talked about Mana?"
Gai paused, then said:
"You said… you'd bring Mana back to life."
"Then what's the issue?"
"…None."
Right. He was overthinking it.
Souta never intended to treat him as disposable.
Still… getting almost killed by the virus would have sucked.
Souta pulled out a stapled A4 papers and handed it to Gai.
"These are some mythology drafts. Clean them up and turn them into proper lore. We need solid doctrine for preaching."
Gai took the papers and began reading. After a while, his expression turned serious.
"…These stories are really profound. Did you write them?"
"Yep." Souta nodded. "All original."
Gai looked up, genuinely impressed.
He hadn't expected Souta to be so scholarly on top of being powerful.
"I guess we're ready to act, now that we have the vaccine?"
"Yep. You handle the proselytizing."
Souta waved a hand. He'd do the easy stuff, leave the messy parts to someone else.
"Alright, no problem. But… we may need you to perform a miracle to speed things up. Otherwise, converting people will take too long."
Gai thought for a moment and added:
"Let me hype up the vaccine first. Once public interest peaks, you can make a dramatic appearance in front of the Roppongi crowd. How's that?"
"What kind of miracle?"
"Haven't decided yet. I'll brainstorm and let you know."
Gai turned to leave, then suddenly stopped.
"Oh, one more thing. Do we need to rename Funeral Parlor?"
"Call it… The Illuminati."
Souta replied casually.
No Marvel comics in this world anyway. Might as well borrow the name.